Opera UCLA and UCLA Philharmonia present
The Rake's Progress
Igor Stravinsky, composer
W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman, librettists
Opera UCLA returns to live performance with a new semi-staged production of Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical gem, The Rake’s Progress. With a brilliant libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman, the opera tells the story of Tom Rakewell, a young man to whom it all comes too easily — and the inevitable price he has to pay. The devil and an angel both vie for Tom’s soul — who will win in the end?
The Rake's Progress is an English opera from 1951 in three acts, with an epilogue. The opera is loosely based on William Hogarth's eight paintings and engravings bearing a similar name (“A Rake's Progress”, 1733–1735.) It is one of the few modern operas with a permanent place in the contemporary operatic repertoire. Premiered in Venice in 1951, it is considered one of Igor Stravinsky’s greatest works and is his only full-length opera.